Ashes, Ashes
by Pokemon Trainer Ib
Summary: Not everyone wants to be a hero. Oasis, a school in Vacuo, specializes in training future exploration teams who wish to live a life of riches and with a stylish alignment of neutrality. Brief mentions of canon characters, otherwise, entirely FC-ccentric. No longer accepting FCs/OCs. On a minor hiatus at the moment.
1. Reminders

**Summary:** Not everyone wants to be a hero. Oasis, a school in Vacuo, specializes in training future exploration teams who wish to live a life of riches and with a stylish alignment of neutrality. Brief mentions of canon characters, otherwise, entirely FC-ccentric. Accepting FCs/OCs.

**Rating:** Rated T for harsh language, violence and references to sexual content and alcohol. I'll likely see no need to increase the rating, since this will be a very tame series (for the most part). Any scenes that may be seen as "offensive" or "triggering" will automatically have a warning on it from the start of the chapter.

**Author's Note:** Hey everyone, welcome to my new series! I've been working on Enmity lately and I've decided that I need a break. This time, it seems I'll be writing a fanfiction for RWBY, which will follow a series of FCs/OCs. While I intend to focus it around my characters, I'll be accepting FCs and OCs that are sent into me.

If you're interested in having your character appear in this story, PM me. I will supply you with a sheet for your character. I will be likely accepting throughout the course of the story, but this heavily depends on how many characters I get. You may only send in one or an entire team, but for this Fanfiction, you are **_not _**required to have a team of four. Since Oasis is a little eccentric, you can work with _more _than four members or just by yourself.

Aside from that, I really like this idea and I hope you do too.

Please let me know if there is any grammatical or spatial errors so that I am able to fix them!

Thank you in advanced and I hope you enjoy the story!

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><p><span><strong>"Grey"<strong>** Trailer**

In the eyes of other residents of Remnant and maybe even of Vacuo itself, most of the kingdom was desolate, empty and with a harsh environment. It would take a determined individual to survive, even with the sand and heavy sun, there was always the threat of bandits, Grimm and labyrinths.

But there was those who seeked fortune or historic discovers. Those who would risk their lives, their careers, their everything - just to make themselves a big name.

And then there was the simpler souls . . .

The flying sand of the desert stung on bare skin. The fashion of cloaks wasn't unfamiliar as displayed by an unknown traveler, the only sign of life for miles in the white that stretched before them, not even a bird or caravan in sight. Only the faint howling of the wind and the tinted blue sky from above. It was about midday and the sun's position was beating down directly on the traveler.

Though the heat was familiar, as the traveler kept going, neither parched nor weary. Just simply filled with an interest to move forward. That is, until the traveler stopped suddenly.

"Here," the traveler whispered to nobody in particular.

"It's right here," reaching out a pale hand from under the beige cloak, the traveler grasped at thin air. "But why is it . . ?"

The figure stopped suddenly. The first sign was the dust being thrown around them, the next being the ground beneath their boots beginning to shake. And without further warning, the ground erupted behind the figure as a massive red and black creature let out a screech, its mouth revealing thousands of small, sharp teeth.

As the Grimm rammed its head forward, smacking it against the ground, the figure suddenly jumped back, throwing three colorful cards with sharp edges at the underbody of the it, causing it to howl in pain. The traveler suddenly threw their cloak to the sand, revealing a boy, in his late teens with calm eyes and hair so white that it appeared silver.

"You're the guardian."

Without another word, the Grimm leapt towards him as incredible speed, revealing a long and presumably powerful body. The boy slid in the sand beneath the wormlike Grimm, rolling to the opposite side of the head, before lining up three tarot cards: Moon, Chariot and Death in the geometric form of a triangle.

Without a second to waste, a pillar of water shot from a hole in the triangle and was sent flying at the beast, with the result of it being pushed away at an incredible speed. Watching it land on the ground with a hard thud, the boy lowered his cards, grabbing one at random and leaping onto the worm beast from its tail, watching as its head rose in annoyance, screeching once more at him.

As the worm moved, he lowered a card near the back of it, watching the razor sharp blade on the edge of it dig into the skin. Letting out another howl, the worm began to wiggle in pain as the boy slid across its back, using the edge of the card to create a long, straight line from tail to head.

Once at the head, the Grimm was already in a considerable amount of pain. As the boy readied himself to jab the card into the neck, he felt himself lose traction from the worm beast and was thrown from it, into the sands below. Falling into the sand at such a height would've hurt, had he not activated his aura moments earlier.

Standing up slowly, he grabbed his cards from the sands and watched as the Grimm struggled towards him. It had been paralyzed and injured dearly from the boy's attack. One green and one blue eye watched its suffering before a dagger was thrown into the head of the Grimm, causing its head to fall to the sand once and for all.

A gunshot was heard and the dagger retracted from its position in the skull. A chain was seen against the sand before it was wrapped up, dagger-gun attached. A boy around the same age with black hair and noticeable red highlights looked up at the tarot card user, "Is it here?"

A nod from the tarot card user.

"Good job, Ash," the other boy said approvingly, beginning to scan the sand near Ash with particular interest. He was clearly looking for something as showed by his determined expression.

Ash, on the other hand, made his way over to the fallen Grimm. Removing the three tarot cards from the Grimm's hard skin, he lowered himself onto one knee and bowed before the Grimm. "Rest in peace."

And then, the worm beast disappeared into a cloud of black.


	2. Showdown!

**Author's Note:** Wow, a lot more people showed interest in this than I had originally expected and that's great! Keep sending your characters in, though I may have to close down submissions in the near future. Anyway, I'd like to thank everyone who has showed interest so far, sent in a review or has favorited/followed. All of your support is greatly appreciated and means a lot!

As it came to my attention (thank you, Panzer4life), that my first chapter was very short. This was actually because half of the chapter was cut off when I had posted it, so go ahead and check that out, it's been updated since the story was published yesterday. And here, I introduce my second character, I hope you all like her!

As usual, feedback is greatly appreciated and if you see any grammatical or spatial errors, please let me know!

Otherwise, please enjoy.

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><p><strong><span>"Yellow" Trailer<span>**

She hated Vacuo.

The deserts were as big as the day was long. The sun was always beating down and the dust had a tendency of getting in her mouth and eyes. Her bottom was also aching from riding a horse for miles. As much as she hated it, she also loved it. It was home.

Letting these thoughts bounce around her mind, the lone rider found herself in luck as her horse led her through a small outpost. It was almost evening now, so it would be a good idea to stop off for the night, gather supplies, maybe stop at an Inn and then continue her search in the morning.

Holding the reigns gently, she passed by a series of stores, seeing their owners leaning against the wooden rails outside, sipping from bottles. Oh, how she wished that was her. Her mouth was parched.

Moving through, she tipped her hat at the merchants, who nodded in response.

It was custom in these parts to show that you meant no harm to the civilization.

Kicking up dirt, her white horse stopped in front of a hitching post. The girl climbed off, wrapping the reigns around the railing and petting her companion on the head, "Thank you."

The horse let out a soft noise in response, puffing dirt from its nose, its tail shaking with a sense of happiness.

The girl found herself entering a nearby Inn, one with a traditional bar - one that was jammed pack. She walked past a brawling pair, taking a seat at the counter, leaning over. A dart flew past her hat, as a man yelled out in victory. The bartender was scrubbing a glass with a white cloth when he turned around. "Somethin' I can get for you, little lady?"

"A room. Oh, and something to drink," before the man could ask, she added on, "Surprise me." And with that, he disappeared into the back room.

The girl let out an exhausted sigh, removing the hat from her wild, blonde hair. At the top of her head sat a pair of fuzzy, pointed, brown ears. "A Faunus," the man who sat besides her remarked, "We ain't see many of those around here these days."

He took a sip of his drink, before looking at her again, "You look a bit young to be travelin' alone, girl."

"I'm not alone," which wasn't technically a lie, she always had her horse.

"Right. What's yer name, girl?"

"Sol. Sol Amarillo. And what's with your curiosity?"

"Me? I'm just bein' polite," he takes another sip of his drink, "See, a Faunus like you. Wouldn't be surprised if you had grubby fingers."

"I'm a treasure hunter," she crossed one leg over another on the stool, "Not a thief."

"Sure, if ye call it that."

"I don't like your attitude, mister."

"And I don't like yers, girlie."

And suddenly, she grabbed the back of the man's head with her palm and smacked his head forward. With a jerking motion, it slammed against the counter with a loud thud. Sol stood up, briefly hoping that she had broken his nose. Boy, she sure did love "hitting like a girl".

"I told you I didn't like your attitude," she took his drink and took a sip for herself. It tasted bitter and she resisted the urge to spit it out. Still, she swallowed the alcohol with a sense of victory.

She moved aside quickly, realizing that the man had reached out to punch her from the side. It took her a moment to register the silence and lack of movement in the bar.

"This Faunus girl tried hurtin' me!" The man called out and suddenly, Sol found herself surrounded.

"Gentlemen, ladies. Do we really need to do this?" Despite this comment, she grabbed her hat from the counter and had an air of confidence about her. She had dealt with worse types before. All the cost of living in Vacuo.

Without another word, she dove from the window, the glass shattering against her body weight as she pulled out two twin revolvers, shooting inside the bar at nobody in particular. Landing on the ground outside, she dusted off her torn and dirty trenchcoat.

"There better not be any blood on this," she murmured, her comment being ruined by three men who jumped out after her. She raised her revolvers, twirling them around her wrist as they flattened, becoming dual machetes.

"Gentlemen," she called out, before charging at them, throwing her hat into the air.

Though these parts were generally lawless, one rule always applied: do not kill any human. This didn't apply to Faunus, of course. That made things all the more fun for Sol. Not that she ever listened to the rules anyway.

She sliced at one man, giving him a kick into a hitching post opposite of her horse, watching as his head fell into the water with a thud.

Her revolver went off in response to the man who tried to sneak up behind her, watching as the bullet grazed him. He stumbled behind her horse and she didn't have to watch, as she heard the man cry out in pain, the noise followed by a thud.

Her horse had kicked him. "Good boy, Luna."

She reached for the final man, slicing at his left leg quickly, before sweeping him from beneath with a kick. He stumbled into the Inn door and with an even more forceful kick, she shoved him through the door, hearing the heavy wood crack and break underneath her force and his body weight.

Taking a moment to wink into the doorway, she walked out into the sands, grabbing her hat as it floated from the air above. Placing it onto her head with a sense of style, she lowered her revolvers to her side and grabbed Luna's reigns, heading for the frontier once more.

_We __**aren't**_ _the heroes._

In fact, we're far from it.


	3. Unprofessional

**Author's Note:** Whew, almost done. Only one more trailer and we get to start the actual story. And a lot of you gave such positive feedback on Sol, I'm glad you all liked her! And by the way, if anyone wants to change their characters, just edit their sheet and send it into me. Since this story is getting so much attention, I'll only be accepting characters until a day or two after the final trailer is put up. If you have not shown interest by then, your character will not be appearing in the story, unless I decide to re-open submissions again.

That being said, here's the third trailer.

As usual, thank you all for all of your support, to all of you who have showed interest, sent in characters, reviewed or just simply favorited/followed, all of the support is greatly appreciated!

If there is any grammatical or spatial errors, please let me know!

Otherwise, enjoy the chapter.

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><p><span><strong>"Red" Trailer<strong>

He wasn't sure what he had noticed first.

The cold air that drafted through the room or the musty smell. Despite its looks, it wasn't fooling anyway. This was an abandoned warehouse, likely from when the White Fang was active in this region. Now cleared out, it could mean two things: bandits or left behind treasure.

Though he was broke, he was putting money on the second one. Surely, he and Ash weren't thieves . . but, it technically wasn't thievery if the "loot" so to say, was abandoned.

And that's how the two ended up dropping from an air vent from above, hearing the squeaking metal swing back and forth, rhythmically. The boy jumped down first, looking ahead into the room that was mostly dark - the only light being given off by emergency flood lights on the ground.

Footsteps behind him, as his companion landed. "I have a bad feeling about this."

"Me too," the boy admitted, looking around the room.

The flashing lights gave way to his appearance: handsome dark skin with matching dark hair with red highlights spread throughout the hair. Grey eyes flashed in the dark. "We just take whatever lien is lying around and leave, deal?"

"Deal."

And the two walked forward.

The abandoned warehouse was a nice break from the desert, admittedly. Though wearing a sleeveless hoodie, the boy could feel shivers from his arms, giving him a lovely reminder of how awful he would do in the cold. Luckily, he was raised his whole life in Vacuo and had no intentions on leaving.

"Any visions?"

Ash's left blue eye remained shut, having gotten sand in it earlier.. The green eye on the right looked around the room, "No," the tone in his voice gave away a sense of breathlessness, "It's like this place doesn't have a history at all."

And then he stopped. "Phoenix!"

He called to the boy, who suddenly looked ahead. Out of the darkness from ahead, a rocket was suddenly launched through the air, causing Phoenix to roll to the left and Ash to the right. Both hiding behind a stack of conveniently placed crates. "What the hell?!"

"They have a Chimera!"

And indeed 'they' did, as Phoenix could feel the ground beneath him shaking as it approached. "Who is they?!"

"The White Fang! When they were here!"

"They have a fucking Chimera?! Are you kidding?!"

Of all the illegally made and distributed robots, the Chimera was the most well-known. It was like a tank, but in the shape of a tiger. And it was massive. Not only that, it was also loaded with guns and explosives, just like everything else in the world. The Chimera was designed by a Faunus scientist, as given away by its design. It was used by rebels, terrorists and freedom fighters alike.

And it was hard as hell to kill.

Ash definitely wasn't joking, as the mechanical beast moved forward, lumbering over the two boys still hiding behind the crates.

"It isn't too late to run!" Ash called out, realizing that his words were ignored as Phoenix withdrew two curved daggers attached to chains. He swung the chains around his shoulder, holding the two daggers by their hilts and pulling back the triggers.

It was satisfying to hear the bullets clink against the metal, but there was no way it would be enough to take it down. It was merely a diversion, as Ash threw three tarots cards over the beast in the shape of a triangle, before raising his hand. Three pillars of the ground were raised, throwing the beast onto its back.

Without further hesitation, Phoenix swung the daggers around on the chains, dashing at the Chimera. He swung wildly at the downed creature, creating an aerial crescent moon with his body, with the occasional sounds of the pistols going off, hitting the beast's underbelly. Landing on the other side, he was able to see it get up and stared at it with a sense of of fear.

"Phoenix!"

Phoenix jumped aside, just barely missing the beast's leg from crushing him.

"I'd like to see you operate without a leg!"

He swung the chain daggers around again, running beneath the beast, hearing Ash call his name in the distance. He wasted no time, wrapping two chains around a thick, metallic leg, before giving it a tug. There was a cracking noise as he sensed it was about to give way.

And he was right, as the leg slanted sideways beneath the robot, he let go of the leg suddenly and ran back to Ash. He didn't even need to look behind him to know it was down.

The thud was enough, but he could still the motors running violently.

"Well," Phoenix said, rather breathless, holding his daggers to his sides, "It's not lien, but we can still take it apart and sell the parts."

"What? Are you crazy?! We'll need fences to do that! The Chimera is as illegal as it gets-," Phoenix raised his hand, cutting his companion off. "I know."

"Look, fences aren't that hard to find. Okay? We need the money anyway." That much was true and there was no denying it. They hadn't had any major breakthroughs with their "hunt" recently anyway.

"Fine," Ash commented as Phoenix headed back towards the downed Chimera, ready to dismember it. "That was unprofessional."

"What was?"

"Our fight," Ash held his deck, shuffling the cards as he approached Phoenix, kneeling over in the floodlight, looking for an emergency power switch. "We're getting rusty."

"That's the first thing you say after we almost get killed?"

"Well . . yeah, it's true."

Phoenix shook his head, "My brother is a weirdo," he sighed, looking to the darkness above him.

"Help me pull this thing apart."


End file.
